Work is in progress on a Returnees Bill to facilitate the return of children and women in Middle East refugee camps who are T&T citizens, government officials have confirmed..
In 2017, then National Security Minister Edmund Dillon said approximately 130 T&T nationals had left T&T to join the terrorist group Isis. He said there were about 70 adults and 58 family members. Several of them, including Shane Crawford, a sniper and “poster boy” for Isis recruitment, were reportedly killed in clashes with allied troops.
Since the collapse of Isis in 2018/19, a number of T&T women and children have been in Middle East refugee camps and their relatives have been seeking their return.
The Bill currently being drafted seeks to remove the stigma of terrorism from returnees and stipulates a verification process to ensure those identified are in fact T&T citizens and entitled to return to this country.
The legislation requires extensive consultations between Government and the Legislative Review Committee and feedback is being sought from various stakeholders, including the T&T Defence Force (TTDF), the T&T Police Service (TTPS) Special Branch and national security interest groups.
Options being considered are placing the returnees in a location where they can be acclimatised and provided with a range of counselling and support services. This will allow for a phased process of entry.
The Bill will likely be brought to Parliament in this fiscal year.
“We’re being very, very careful and are receiving massive stakeholder consultations to ensure the best interest of all,” a government source said.
Attorney Nafeesa Mohammed, who is representing relatives of approximately 100 T&T women and children in refugee camps, cited a January 20 news report where a judge declared that four Canadian men held in Syrian camps are entitled to Canadian Government help to return home.
“Recent international reports about the repatriation of mothers, children and some men from Syrian refugee camps to home countries in Canada, France and Barbados have renewed hope the Government will do the needful to expedite repatriation of our citizens,” she said.
“There’s no need to legislate for their return. We have modern and effective legal and administrative frameworks in place that will ensure the best interests of these children and their families are protected while safeguarding the security concerns that may exist in the wider society.
“T&T is a unique country with a very diverse society and the affected families have already committed themselves to working closely with the State and other stakeholders to ensure these victims are reintegrated in society smoothly.
“They’re displaced citizens, suffering in camps under extremely harsh conditions,and needing protection, not persecution. There’s no need to be afraid of their return. Reuniting with their loved ones will be the much-needed therapy to effect successful reintegration.”
Mohammed said the approximately 100 Trinidadian citizens in Syria and Iraq include 25 women, 69 children and unconfirmed reports of six men.
“We’re primarily concerned about bringing home the women and children but these men are also our citizens. We’ll eventually seek their return and will speak to government on this,” she said.
At present there are three cases in appeal seeking emergency travel documents for children, the return of two injured women and their children and the return of a woman and child from a Turkish camp.
